Marriage by request Page 7

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CERYS found herself in Liam's company more and more during the next few weeks, and it seemed to her that her unde approved of their constant companionship, for he made one or two very obvious remarks about their being a handsome couple and how pleased he was that they got on well together. Although the changing weather discouraged her from walking too far or too often she rode quite frequently, usually with Liam for company. He seemed to find more time than she would have thought possible to come with her and she laughed about it more than once, only to be informed, rather shortly, that it was what Sean Brady wanted and if he didn't object who else should. It was an unanswerable argument and she was nothing loath to have his company, for he was pleasantly attentive and even showed signs of being more than just friendly towards her, although she was not sure that that was what she wanted yet awhile. She had no objection to the way he always met her when they went riding, walking up the ride to greet her, instead of waiting by the stables as he had formerly done, nor did she mind the glow of excitement it gave her whenever the grey eyes watched her, warm and full of meaning. Liam, she thought, was a very attractive man and she had no qualms about making the most of his obvious admiration of her. It would have been idyllic had it not been for the ever-present thought of Sean Brady sitting, in his wheelchair, slipping away a little more each day. To96 day the final papers would arrive and Liam would officially become Liam Brady. It was a momentous day for both the men, and Cerys had felt a little superfluous as they talked over lunch, so that as soon as the meal was over she left them to themselves and walked down to the stables to fetch Ben. A ride alone would not only get her away from the rather emotional atmosphere of the house, but also give her time to think how she felt about Liam, for she had felt for a day or two now that he was only waiting for his name to be changed to his foster-father's before he made some sort of declaration, and she was uncertain at the moment how she should reply. She made no attempt to deny that she found him attractive, for he was a man that most women would be drawn to, but despite his unfailing and gallant treatment of her she always had a niggling doubt at the back of her mind that he was acting that way because it was expected of him, and it made her wary and a little uneasy even when she basked in the warmth of that expressive look of his. Cormac, the general factotum around the place, met her at the stables with a broad smile that wrinkled his gypsy-dark face so much it was difficult to see the small, dark, rather sly-looking eyes. He was always friendly enough, but Cerys had the feeling that he missed nothing. He said little but performed almost any task re-quired of him without complaint, and she rather liked him, although there were times when she found his knowing eyes a little disconcerting. He had anticipated her wanting the bay and he disappeared into a stall when he saw her approaching, returning with the animal and a saddle. 'Thank you, Cormac.' She smiled at him. 'It's a lovely day.' 97 'It is that,' Cormac agreed, lifting the saddle on to the broad back and reaching for the cinch. 'September's a lovely month.' Cerys laughed. 'You know your weather, Cormac, what's it going to be like for the next few weeks? There's only just over a week left in this month now. What's October going to be like? Wet?' The dark face lifted briefly from his task and a knowing look speculated on her reason for asking. 'It's likely, miss, but it won't be too bad, I t'ink. Ya'll still be able to ride all right.' 'Good.' She nodded her satisfaction as he stepped back and stood ready to help her mount. 'Thank you.' Settling into the saddle, she lifted her head suddenly as a movement caught her eye from near the corner of the stables and this time there could be no mistaking who it was she saw. The dark face, with its almost exotic prettiness and almost black eyes, stared at her briefly before she left the dim shelter of the stable and ran. Cerys had seen nothing of Sheila Flaherty since their rather unfortunate meeting three weeks before when the girl had refused her help, but she had learned from Doctor O'Rourke that Tom Flaherty was now home again and much better. It had cost her dear in pride to ask him, for she avoided him whenever she could, but she had been interested to know how the old man was and he was the one person she knew she could safely ask. The girl had looked at her as she ran from the stable and Cerys was made aware of her dislike even in that one short glance before she ran towards the trees that lined the ride. Just as Cerys had seen the first time, she disappeared in a flutter of colour, leaving the lowergrowing shrubs between the trees stirring briefly as she passed. This time the colour had been pale blue and 98 not yellow, and her black hair flew out around her shoulders like some wild creature as she fled. Cormac, Cerys thought, had not noticed her go, having his back to her, and Cerys looked down at the dark wrinkled face curiously. It was obvious from his looks that he was at least part gypsy, as Sheila was, and she wondered if that gave them a mutual bond of attraction, although he must be quite a number of years older than the girl. What mystified Cerys was the reason for her obvious fear of discovery, for surely her uncle would not object to Gormac having a visitor. She yielded to her curiosity, trying to make the question sound casual. 'You know Sheila Flaherty, do you, Cormac?' she asked, and saw the dosed, wary look that settled on the man's face. 'She lives wid her grandpappy over the river,' he said, half turning his head to glance over his shoulder. 'She's gone,' Cerys informed him with a wry smile. 'I seem to frighten her away for some reason or other, but you don't have to worry, surely, do you, Cormac? I shan't tell anyone she was here.' She remembered then that it had been Liam who had been evasive about her the last time she had caught a glimpse of the girl near the stables, so presumably he knew of the association and approved of it since he had gone to such pains to convince her she had seen nothing on the ride that day. 'Mr. Rogan knows anyway, doesn't he?' she added. He glanced up briefly, trying to read another meaning into her question, she thought. 'Mr. Rogan knows,' he agreed quietly. 'If ya'll excuse me, miss, I've to get on wid me work.' He touched a finger lightly to his forehead and turned away, evidently intent on avoiding further discussion, and Cerys's curiosity about the girl remained unsatisfied. She rode along the tree-lined ride with the late 99 September sun deliciously warm through the leaves that were rapidly turning colour and looked a little sad. There was a slight frown between her brows as she pondered on the question of such an unlikely pair as Cormac and Sheila, for despite their mutual origins, she could not imagine how the girl could be fond of a man so much older than herself, not in the way that Cerys had in mind anyway. The quiet tranquillity of the open parkland gave her a relaxed and almost somnolent feeling which the bay seemed to share, for he ambled along quietly and with no impatient head-shaking to let her know he would rather hurry. The ride took her much longer than usual and she was little more than half-way towards the rise that hid the river from view when she heard someone calling to her from behind. Thinking that it might be Liam, she halted the bay and turned him round to face the oncoming rider, but a glimpse of the red hair was enough to tell her that the newcomer was not Liam but Doctor O'Rourke, and far from taking it easy as she and Ben had been doing, the black horse came across the intervening yards like the wind, nostrils flaring, ears back and the silky mane lifted in the wind he was creating. The hand on the rein appeared light, but she knew that at such a speed the high-bred animal must have taken some holding, and she admired the man's skill without reserve. 'Cormac said you'd come this way he thought,' he told her as he reined in the black beside her. Cerys arched curious and discouraging brows. 'Did you want me urgently. Doctor O'Rourke?' she asked, knowing from his smile that it could be nothing serious. 'I don't know that I wanted you at all,' he told her blandly, giving the word an entirely different meaning 100 from the one she intended, and she flushed, turning the bay back to face the rise again and putting her heels to him. 'Hey, wait for me!' He brought his animal up level with hers without very much trouble, looking across at her determined unfriendly face with his usual smile. "You don't mind if I ride with you,,do you?' he asked. Cerys shrugged. 'It's your choice. Doctor O'Rourke, I don't own Croxley.' 'Aah, come on now,' the persuasive voice coaxed her. 'What're.ya sulkin' about?' 'I am not sulking!' She turned angry eyes on him, but hastily looked away again when she met the amused and slightly mocking gaze of his. 'I I just like being alone sometimes, that's all.' 'Aah sure, don't we all?' he said, obligingly agreeable. 'An' if it's quiet ya wantin', I'll not say another word though the divil himself tempts me.' She could, she told herself, ignore him completely and perhaps he would take the hint and go away, but at the back of her mind was the thought that perhaps he of all people would know what, if anything, there was between Cormac and Sheila Flaherty, and she was admittedly curious about them. With the idea of using him as a source of information, she turned a slightly more friendly face towards him. 'R.ide with me if you want to. Doctor O'Rourke,' she told him, 'but please dispense with the accent. It doesn't impress me and it's quite unnecessary.' He sighed, only the blue eyes betraying his amusement at her manner. T just seem to drop into it naturally when I'm with you,' he told her, as if it gave him cause for regret. 'Maybe it's because you make me feel so humble.' Cerys flushed at what she considered the unfairness 101 of the statement and her fingers clenched tightly. 'I don't know why you should,' she told him, 'unless you suffer from a form of inverted snobbery.' She remembered Liam's brief hints about his father and his selfimposed poverty and she looked at him curiously from under her lashes. 'In your case that hardly applies, though, does it?' 'Doesn't it?' She thought he was wary now and a little surprised at her question. 'You tell me, Cerys,' he added softly, 'you seem to know.' 'I I don't know anything,' she admitted, wondering if she had been wise to mention what could prove to be a delicate subject when she knew so little about it. 'I've only a few veiled hints that Liam made to go on.' 'And you asked no questions?' he taunted her. 'That was very unfeminine of you.' She bit her lip. angrily at the taunt, her fingers tight on the rein. 'I wasn't sufficiently interested,' she said coldly, and he laughed. It was an explosion of sound that ended in a deep chuckle and she found it dangerously infectious, so that she avoided looking at him at all costs. 'Oh, you do like putting me in my place, don't you?' he asked, unperturbed by the fact, apparently. 'You will insist on baiting me,' she accused, a little plaintively. 'It's your own fault if I I snub you. You ask for it.' 'Mm, I suppose I do,' he admitted surprisingly, and grinned at her widely. 'But I love to see you go off bang like a firecracker.' 'One of these days,' she promised darkly, 'you'll be sorry.' 'Maybe,' he allowed blandly, 'but in the meantime I have fun, don't I?' She did not bother to answer that and they rode in 102 I silence as far as the top of the rise where they halted as she and Liam always did, looking out across the soft, i misty greenness that was already turning colour for S autumn. The black shifted restlessly, but the bay was ^content to enjoy the warm sun and, given a slack rein, ; a nibble of fresh grass round his feet. ; 'I saw Sheila Flaherty at the stables,' Cerys told him, broaching the subject she had decided to question him '. about, and she felt his gaze turn on her curiously and ; perhaps a little warily. 'Did you?' was all he said. She turned and looked at him then and surprised a set and almost blank expression on his usually open face, as if he sensed what she had in mind and was determined not to be persuaded into answering her. 'She ran away when she saw me as she always seems to,' she told him, and saw a hint of the more usual smile touch his mouth for a moment. 'Oh, so I'm not the only one who's scared of you,' he said quietly. Cerys flushed. 'She wasn't scared of me,' she denied indignantly, 'she has no reason to be, but she was hoping to get away without me seeing her, that was obvious.' She met his eyes, her own determinedly curious. 'I wondered if she went there to see Cormac,' she ventured. His look, she thought, grew less wary and he half smiled. 'And you want me to tell you if you've guessed right,' he suggested. 'I I just wondered,' she admitted, wishing he wouldn't make her feel so inquisitive. 'He is gypsy, isn't he?' she added, 'or at least partly.' 'He's all gypsy,' he assured her with a wry smile, 'no half measures there.' 'And Sheila is half,' Cerys mused, 'so I thought per haps a mutual understanding ' She was aware of him watching her with that annoying smile on his face that condemned her for being so curious. 'I just wondered,' she added crossly, 'you don't have to look so superior about it.' 'I didn't know I was,' he apologised. 'I'm sorry about it, but you've made up your mind that Cormac is carrying on with Sheila, haven't you, so I don't imagine there's much I can say will persuade you otherwise.' 'You could try,' she said persuasively, and he laughed. 'Give up, Cerys, before you get hurt,' he told her, and put his heels to the horse he rode, sending him racing down the hill to the river. Cerys watched them go, then urged the bay after them, making good speed down the fairly steep slope, enjoying the sensation it gave her as she always did and reining in the animal, with a smile of triumph, right at the water's edge. 'You'll end up in the river one of these days,' Kevin O'Rourke warned her, standing beside his own mount, his eyes glinting admiration at the picture she made. Her black curly hair in disarray and falling over her high forehead, the wide violet-blue eyes shining between their thick fringe of black lashes; she looked like a wild creature and incredibly lovely. She laughed at his warning, some instinct over which she had no control making her look down at him provocatively. 'I can swim,' she told him, 'don't worry.' 'Oh, I wasn't worrying,' he assured her blandly. 'I expect there'd be somebody around to fish you out.' 'But you wouldn't?' she challenged, and he made no reply but merely smiled and came and stood beside the bay, lifting his hands up to her. 'Coming down?' he asked softly, and she nodded. 104 ': He reached up and half lifted her down so that she stood dose to him and with his hands still holding her, the blue eyes glinting mischief at her. 'I shouldn't need fishing out anyway,' she told him, pouting her bottom lip at his lack of response. 'I can take care of myself.' ^ 'Mmm.' His doubt brought a flash of defiance to hoieyes and she pushed away his hands and moved towards the black horse who eyed her approach with . speculative interest. 'Cerys!' His voice was sharp when he realised her intent and he moved after her, but not quickly enough. ' She swung easily into the saddle and felt the great black creature twitch experimentally. 'I'm quite capable of riding him,' she told him jauntily. 'You can go back on Ben.' 'I'll do no such thing,' he retorted. 'Cerys, don't be such a little idiot!' He would have grabbed the bridle and prevented her from going, but again he was too late, and she put her heels to the black and sent him flying like the wind round the foot of the hill, laughing at his frustration as she went, the sound carrying back to him like a diallenge. It was exciting to feel the smooth flow of pure-bred muscle and flesh covering the ground at such a fantastic speed and with such perfect co-ordination, and she lifted her face to the flow of the wind as it ran through her hair, tossing it back like a black mane that matched her mount's. Round the foot of the hill they went as far as the flat parkland beyond and she realised for the first time the stamina of the animal she rode. He could keep this up for far longer than she would be able to hold him. Turning him, she found, was even harder than she had anticipated, for the horse had a will of his own and he 105 had his own ideas about where he wanted to go. She was obliged to pull cruelly hard on the bit before he would allow her to have her way and, once turned, he sped back round the hill, bent on paying her back for her insistence. He flew along, his pace no less now than when they had begun, and Cerys began to feel the strain in her hands and wrists as she fought with him for control. At last her diminishing strength allowed him to achieved his object and with a determined effort he got the bit between his teeth and left her helpless. She had a fleeting glimpse of Kevin O'Rourke's red head and of Ben's galloping figure coming towards her before she was hurled bodily on to the blessedly soft turf and lost consciousness. There was a professional feel about the touch that explored her ribs as she came round, and she opened her eyes to meet a gaze that was at once anxious and angry. 'Of all the little idiots!' he stormed at her. 'You are the most pudden-headed, wilful, spoiled woman I ever saw, and it'd serve you right if you'd broken every bone in your body!' 'Have I?' she asked meekly, still a little breathless, and he shook his head. He was on his knees beside her on the grass, the sleeves of his sweater pushed up to his elbows as if he meant business. 'It's more than you deserve,' he retorted. 'All I can find are a few bruises.' She looked at him curiously, wondering at his certainty. 'How long have I been out?' she asked. His smile was enigmatic as he glanced at her for a moment. 'Long enough,' he told her cryptically. He was still checking; her legs, arms and neck all came under careful scrutiny and once or twice she winced and pouted in protest. 'Did that hurt?' he asked once 106 when she exclaimed sharply as he toudied her left shoulder. She shook her head. 'Not enough to fuss about,' she decreed. 'It's just one of those bruises you mentioned, I expect.' 'I'm not fussing,' he informed her, 'but you're so 'stubborn you'd say you were O.K. even if you'd broken k your neck.' 'And you wish I had!' she retorted. 'I'm all right, so you can swallow your disappointment this time.' He got to his feet, bending to put an arm under her shoulder, helping her to rise. 'Let's see how you are on your feet,' he told her. 'Come on, up you get.' She got up slowly, feeling all over her body ex: perimentally and finding several tender spots. 'I'm a bit sore,' she told him, satisfied at last, 'but O.K. other'' wise.' 'You'd be sore in another place if I had my way,' he retorted. 'You wouldn't sit down for a week.' 'Thank you, doctor,' she said, heavily sarcastic. 'Very ^ professional.' She yielded to temptation and wrinkled her nose at him impudently. 'I'm not feeling very professional,' he told her shortly i and, before she could answer, pulled her to him with /very unprofessional roughness and kissed her mouth. ',' She stood there without protest feeling the rapid beat of his heart as well as her own, and a dizzying lightness in her head, until at last she realised her posi[tion and squirmed away from him protestingly. She :'stood for a second looking at him, uncertain whether s.to be angry or not and wishing her hands would stop i. trembling as they were. ; 'Cerys ' ^ She did not know what he would have said nor what [.her own reaction would have been, for at that moment & ^7 something else attracted her attention and she looked up the hill, her eyes wide with dismay at the thought of being seen. Liam was coming down the hill riding the other black horse and his frown was evident even from a distance. 'Liam!' She knew her face was flushed and that she looked dishevelled from her fall. That Liam had seen Kevin O'Rourke kissing her she guessed was inevitable. The face of her companion showed a brief flash of annoyance as if he resented the interruption, but it was only momentary and his usual smile returned in time for Liam's arrival. Liam's gaze noted her appearance and registered his opinion of the scene he had witnessed from a distance. 'Cerys,' he said coldly, 'I hope I'm not interrupting anything. If I am I apologise.' 'Of course you're not,' Cerys assured him, feeling that devil of mischief watching her and waiting to see what she would do. 'I I took a fall, but I've only a few bruises, so Doctor O'Rourke assures me no bones broken.' 'I'm glad to hear it,' he told her chillingly, and she thought she detected a sudden and unexpected gleam of spite in his eyes as he flicked a glance at the other man. 'He's looked at you professionally, has he?' he asked, and Cerys frowned her uncertainty, disliking something in his tone. 'Well yes, I suppose so,' she admitted. A half smile crossed Liam's tanned face as he looked at Kevin O'Rourke fully for the first time, and Cerys thought it made him look a little cruel. 'You realise I could break you for this, O'Rourke, don't you?' he asked quietly. 'A doctor and a patient you'd be finished it it ever came out.' Cerys drew a breath sharply, too stunned to protest 108 and appalled by the possibilities of the situation. There was an icy glint of anger in Kevin O'Rourke's blue eyes now, which either Liam did not see or chose to ignore, and she shivered at the alien look of it in those usually friendly eyes. 'Look, Rogan,' the firm jaw jutted aggressively, 'I'm not Miss Brady's doctor, nor have I any intention of being, but I could scarcely leave her lying on the ground with possible serious injuries any more than you could have done. I made sure she wasn't badly hurt, no more, and my examination was only professional in so far as I prpbably knew more of what I was doing than you would have done in the circumstances otherwise the position is no different.' 'I vrouldn't have thought kissing her was part of the examination,' Liam said, looking a little shamefaced, it had to be admitted. 'It wasn't part of anything,' Kevin told him quietly, his eyes flickering briefly to Cerys's uncertain face. 'That was sheer, unadulterated relief, and if Cerys objected to it I apologise most humbly but I don't think she did somehow.' Liam's face flushed at the jibe and for a moment Cerys wondered if he would lose his temper and lash out. There was an ominous glitter in the grey eyes and he clenched his fists angrily. 'Liam!' She put a placating hand on his arm, her gaze anxious as she looked up at him. 'I I think it's true what Doctor O'Rourke says. I was idiotic enough to ride off on the black and he warned me it was dangerous. I couldn't hold him when he got the bit between his teeth -and I was lucky not to be more badly hurt than I was.' 'I'm sorry.' He looked contrite. 'I should have been more concerned with your fall. I didn't realise Nemesis 109 had thrown you. How on earth did Cormac come to let you have him?' She looked shamefaced and bit her lip on her confession. 'He he didn't. Doctor O'Rourke was riding him and we came down here together. I took Nemesis when he'd dismounted and he tried to stop me.' Liam shook his head over her wilful nature. 'You're too adventurous,' he told her, a glint of admiration in his eyes for all his condemnation. 'Pudden-headed, I called it,' the doctor told him bluntly and with a grin, his good humour apparently restored. Liam turned to him coldly. 'I can take Miss Brady back, O'Rourke,' he told him. 'You needn't bother to wait.' 'It's no bother at all,' Kevin O'Rourke told him, blithely ignoring the hint. 'But if Cerys has dispensed with my services I'll catch up with my mount and ride on a bit.' Cerys felt his wording rather made it look as if she had merely been making use of him and was now dismissing him summarily, his services no longer required, and when she remembered why she had encouraged him to ride with her, she felt rather guilty. She also remembered his opinion of her manner towards him and bit her lip on the uncertainty that filled her. 'I feel fine now, Kev Doctor O'Rourke, thank you,' she told him. 'I think I'll settle for Ben and ride back with Liam.' He nodded and looked across to where the runaway Nemesis was now standing patiently, his head low. 'I'll see if there's any energy left in that black divil,' he said, and turned to Liam. Tf I was you, Rogan, I'd take it easy going back. Those bruises will be painful.' no I1'. Liam ignored the advice, but took up the point that 1. most affected him- personally. 'I'm not Rogan any 1,'longer, O'Rourke,' he told him, his black head held high and back slightly in a new-found arrogance. 'My t name's Brady Liam Brady.' [ For a moment the blue eyes of the other man held I his gaze thoughtfully and with a certain amount of regret in their depths, Cerys thought, then he nodded. - 'Congratulations,' he said quietly, at last, and turned I to v/alk across to his mount, leaving Cerys with an in!' explicable sadness in her heart. Ill